e he could get at 'em. But they
ended by whipping everybody who had whipped them. They whipped the whole
world, and they kept it whipped until they played out from old age."

Dick laughed cheerily.

"Now, you shut up, George," he said. "You've talked too much. What's
the use of going back as far as the old Romans for comfort. We can win
without having to copy a lot of old timers."

He dropped the flap of canvas and rode on listening to the sounds of the
combat. A powerful figure stepped out of the bushes and stood beside
his horse. It was Sergeant Whitley, who had passed through the battle
without a scratch.

"What has happened, Sergeant?" asked Dick, as he sat in the rain and
listened to the dying fire.

"There has been a fight, and both are quitting because they can't see
enough to carry it on any longer. But General Kearney has been killed."

The retreat continued until they reached the Potomac and were in the
great fortifications before Washington. Then Pope resigned, and the star
of McClellan rose again. The command of the armies about Washington
was entrusted to him, and the North gathered itself anew for the mighty
struggle.

CHAPTER VII. ORDERS NO. 191

When the Union army, defeated at the Second Manassas fell back on
Washington, Dick was detached for a few days from the regiment by
Colonel Winchester, partly that he might have a day or two of leave, and
partly that he might watch over Warner, who was making good progress.

Warner was in a wagon that contained half a dozen other wounded men, or
rather boys, and they were all silent like stoics as they passed over
the bridge to a hospital in Washington. His side and shoulder pained
him, and he had recurrent periods of fever, but he was making fine
progress.

Dick found his comrade on a small cot among dozens of others in a great
room. But George's cot was near a window and the pleasant sunshine
poured in. It was now the opening of September, and the hot days were
passing. There was a new sparkle and crispness in the air, and Warner,
wounded as he was, felt it.

"We're back in the capital to enjoy ourselves a while," he said
lightly to Dick, "and I'm glad to see that the weather will be fine for
sight-seeing."

"Yes, here we are," said Dick. "The Johnnies beat us this time. They
didn't outfight us, but they had the best generals. As soon as you're
well, George, we'll start out again and lick 'em."

"I'm glad you told 'em to wait for me, Di